Nation

Southerners scramble to prepare amid threat of ice, snow, and bitter cold

Blankets of snow and sheets of ice. Blustery winds and temperatures plunging to lows that can burst pipes. Across a vast swath of the country Thursday, officials and meteorologists warned people to be ready for any of it. Continue reading →

Nation

What’s behind the staggering drop in the murder rate? No one knows for sure.

Last year is likely to register the lowest national homicide rate in 125 years and the largest single-year drop on record, according to a new analysis of 2025 crime data. Continue reading →

Politics

Jack Smith defends Trump investigations before lawmakers

Jack Smith, the special prosecutor who investigated Donald Trump, appeared before lawmakers Thursday to defend his decision to indict Trump twice after he left office in 2021. Continue reading →

World

As Trump drops Greenland threats, Europeans say they are still on guard

President Trump’s U-turn on Greenland - proclaiming he was negotiating a deal for “total access” to the Arctic territory and dropping his tariff threats - eased some pressure in the standoff with America’s once-closest allies in Europe. But European officials said Thursday that the matter was not settled. Continue reading →

World

After Trump’s ultimatum, Greenland talks include sovereign US bases, no drilling for Russia

Discussions to resolve the future of Greenland have focused in recent days on proposals to increase NATO's presence in the Arctic, give America a sovereign claim to pockets of Greenland's territory and block potentially hostile adversaries from mining the island's minerals. Continue reading →

World

5,500-year-old DNA shows syphilis was rooted in the Americas, before Columbus

From a 5,500-year-old human shinbone, scientists have discovered a close cousin of the pathogen that causes syphilis, providing the oldest evidence yet that the disease has ancient roots in the Americas, millennia before European contact. Continue reading →

OpEds

Is inclusionary zoning illegal?

A Cambridge lawsuit takes aim at a crucial tool promoting affordable housing. Continue reading →

Editorials

State grants are stabilizing child care, but kids still lack access

The C3 grants are boosting wages, moderating tuition growth. Continue reading →

Letters

I was let go by FEMA. These cuts make us all less safe.

The abrupt termination of my position and reported plans to eliminate thousands more staff nationwide are just the latest in a series of moves designed to cut the agency off at the knees. Continue reading →

Politics

Knocking Trump, Healey vows to provide ‘stability’ in State of the Commonwealth address

Speaking to a packed House chamber, Governor Maura Healey repeatedly on Thursday nodded to the pain residents are feeling and cast her administration as the salve a Trump administration isn’t providing. Continue reading →

Crime & Courts

‘Negligent’ doctors overmedicated Duxbury mother accused of killing her three children, malpractice lawsuit alleges

Lawyers for Patrick Clancy filed the complaint Wednesday as the personal representative of the couple's children. Continue reading →

Politics

In the Maine Senate race, only the future of the Republic is at stake

Toppling US Senator Susan Collins is crucial to Democrats’ plan to bring America back from the brink. Continue reading →

Bruins

The Bruins’ Hampus Lindholm may be headed to Milan for the Olympics

Lindholm, 32, said he has been talking with the Team Sweden administrative staff in recent days. Continue reading →

Red Sox

How did Ranger Suárez wind up with the Red Sox? Inside the team’s quick pivot from its pursuit of Alex Bregman.

Suárez and Bregman share agent Scott Boras, who let it be known the market was accelerating for Suárez after Bregman signed with the Cubs. Continue reading →

Patriots

History is not on the Patriots’ side when it comes to winning playoff games in Denver

In the playoffs, New England is 0-4 on the road against the Broncos. Continue reading →

Economy

The palace intrigue over Segun Idowu’s departure shows that Wu has work to do mending fences with Black leaders

The city’s chief economic officer says he’s leaving to spend more time with grandmother, but some wonder if he is unhappy at City Hall. Continue reading →

Business

Repeal of recreational marijuana in Mass. advances after challenge dismissed

Challenges by pro-pot groups alleged that the ballot petition had misled signatories and “obtained signatures fraudulently." Continue reading →

Real Estate

There’s plenty of impatience to go around in Allston on the Mass. Pike megaproject

State transportation department officials hope that new advisers could help the project move forward after the loss of federal funds. Continue reading →

Obituaries

Manolo Villaverde, tender father on bilingual tv show, dies at 89

Manolo Villaverde, a Cuban emigre who had a central role on "¿Qué Pasa, U.S.A.?" -- believed to be the first bilingual sitcom in the United States -- about a Cuban American family in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood, died Jan. 10 in Daytona Beach, Florida. He was 89. Continue reading →

Obituaries

Stephen Hess, 92, an eminent, and quotable, political scientist, dies

Stephen H. Hess, a Washington insider who advised presidents, wrote books on government and the media, and for five decades was an oft-quoted academic news source at what is sometimes called "the other government," the Brookings Institution, died Sunday at his home in Washington. He was 92. Continue reading →

Obituaries

Barbara Aronstein Black, a first as a law school dean, dies at 92

Barbara Aronstein Black, a legal historian who achieved a milestone as the first woman to lead an Ivy League law school, at Columbia University, died on Tuesday in Philadelphia. She was 92. Continue reading →

Movies

Oscars 2026: ‘Sinners’ breaks all-time record for most nominations. See the full list.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences unveiled its list of nominees for the 98th Academy Awards on Thursday morning. Continue reading →

Parenting

In a world fixated on highlight reels, here’s how to slow down and live with purpose

Mattering really matters to human beings, says best-selling author Jennifer Breheny Wallace. Continue reading →

Music

Poppy on her Boston roots, ‘Empty Hands,’ and heavy metal heart

Ahead of the release of her seventh album, the Boston-born musician (and shapeshifter) reflects on her zigzagging career. Continue reading →